Monday, August 2, 2010

Pesto is one of those foods that I could eat every day.For a long time I would just follow a traditional pesto recipe and omit the cheese, but something seemed to be missing. Then one day I had the idea to try adding some miso. It turns out I'm not the first person to have thought of this (not by a long shot, it's all over the internet) but it's a good trick! I find that it gives the whole thing a little bit of a salty kick, sort of how parmesan cheese would. And the only real work involved is cleaning the blender at the end!

Ingredients:1 bunch of basil (about two cups)1 clove of garlic--(Seriously, you don't need a lot! It tastes stronger when it's raw!)juice of 1 lemon1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts1 Tbsp. miso paste (you'll need more or less depending on what kind of miso you used, since some are mild and some are pretty sharp. I used white miso, which is pretty mild.)olive oil

1.Wash the basil and remove the stems. Put the basil leaves in the blender, along with the walnuts, lemon juice, and miso. Smush the garlic with the side of your knife, give it a very rough chop, and add that too. Give everything a whirl until all the ingredients are pretty evenly mixed.2. Now you can start adding olive oil through the hole in the lid of the blender! (Oh, is that what that thing is for???) Drizzle the oil in a little at a time until the mixture is relatively smooth enough for you--this is kind of a matter of taste so you'll have to judge for yourself.3. This is the most important step: taste it! Add more miso if you want, and season with black pepper. (The miso is salty, so you probably won't need to add extra salt to this.)4. Spread it on your sandwiches, toss your pasta and veggies in it, cry when it runs out...